Tech interviews are a standard hiring process stage in the tech industry, allowing companies to evaluate how someone actually does the work. They save you from situations when a person seems a perfect match but turns out to lack the necessary skills when you hire them.
But what interview questions for tech can help you check the required skills without missing a great candidate? We have compiled a list to share in today’s blog post. Use our interview questions for tech and professional tips to prepare for technical interviews and run them smoothly.
What Does a Technical Interview Look Like?
A technical interview happens after recruiters pre-screen multiple candidates and shortlist those with relevant experience, suitable salary ranges, and willingness to switch jobs. Now, they need to ensure these people really know what they do and have the necessary tech expertise. Such an interview usually consists of general, experience-related, and technical questions or practical tasks that allow an interviewer to see how the person solves problems.
A technical interview is a mandatory stage when you hire in tech and IT, but there are no strict rules on who must perform it. It would be nice to engage a tech lead or senior-level engineer for purely coding tasks, but an experienced tech recruiter may also check the tech skills.
Interview Questions for Tech: 4 Main Categories
A technical interview is usually a combination of very specific coding-related questions and more general questions that allow you to evaluate someone’s experience. Of course, the actual technical interview questions will depend on the tech stack and what skills you are looking for. Still, there are some universal things to ask. We have split them into several categories below.
Interview Questions for Tech – Group 1: General tech interview questions
These questions are the core of any interview, technical or non-technical. They are icebreakers but, at the same time, provide valuable information about who is in front of you, their likes and dislikes. Here are some examples of general interview questions for tech employers to ask their candidates:
- Tell us a few words about yourself and what you are looking for in a job?
- What do you like and dislike about your last job?
- What expectations do you have for working with our company?
Interview Questions for Tech – Group 2: Purely coding and programming questions
This category is probably the broadest one and includes everything from what programming languages a candidate knows to specific coding tasks. You will need to engage a tech-savvy interviewer to handle these questions. Some of the examples include:
- Can you tell the difference between a linked list and an array?
- Can you explain what binary search trees are?
- What is the problem with this [example] code?
As an option, you may also ask a candidate to solve a coding-related problem that would show their skills. Analyze the project specifics and the job responsibilities to understand what tech tasks a potential developer will face and ask them to complete a brief one during a tech interview or before it.
Interview Questions for Tech – Group 3: Experience-related questions
Questions about the candidate’s experience offer an easy way to check if the person is right for you. Someone who has worked on similar projects and with the same technologies is very likely to meet your needs. Here are some good questions to ask:
- Can you describe your role and responsibilities at a previous job?
- What was the worst and the best part about your last project?
- What professional certificates have you earned and are planning to get?
- What project are you the most proud of? Why? What was your role?
- How do you keep up with constant tech progress and stay up-to-date?
- Do you attend webinars? Can you name a few last ones?
- Do you have experience with managerial tasks?
- Can you tell us about a project where you had to learn a new programming language or technology? How did you handle it?
Interview Questions for Tech – Group 4: Problem-solving questions
Interviewers ask these questions to see whether a candidate is a good team player. They also allow you to predict how the person will behave in stressful situations and whether you can rely on them.
- How would you explain the [technical concept] to someone who doesn’t know much about tech and IT?
- What colleagues’ behaviors can irritate you?
- When was the last time you had a conflict with your teammate, and how did it end?
- Can you tell us about the last time anything went wrong with the project and what you did about it?
How to Get the Most Out of a Tech Interview
The right technical interview questions are 50% of hiring success. The other 50% is the right approach to communicating with candidates and the ability to attract and pick the suitable ones. Hiring companies often forget that a candidate can turn down an offer at the last minute and, therefore, lose great tech specialists. Don’t be one of them. Use these tips on organizing a proper tech interview.
- Focus on what matters
After listing the questions to ask during a technical interview, we must say you shouldn’t use them all. Bombarding candidates with questions and turning the hiring process into an interrogation may discourage people from joining your company. Good tech specialists also evaluate you during interviews and prefer working with someone who values their time. That’s why we recommend picking the most critical interview questions that directly affect the success of your project.
- Tell them about the project
To make sure both parties are interested in the project’s success and like what they are doing, you should tell potential candidates about your product. Tell them about the idea behind the project, what you have already done, their responsibilities and contributions, and your future goals. People who care about what they do and are good specialists need more than money. They want to make a difference.
- Create a timeline and share it with the candidate
Be open and specific with your candidates, allowing them to estimate the time they need to pass the tech interview. Finalize the list of questions and time for sample answers in advance to plan the agenda and send it to candidates. Predictability shows that your company is a transparent and reliable employer, which benefits your brand image.
- Treat every candidate as equal
It may be an obvious tip, but still. Be polite with everyone you interview to increase your chances of landing a true professional. Even if you see that someone doesn’t have the necessary tech skills, give them honest feedback and guide them on how to develop the required expertise if they ask about it. Engineers often share their negative recruitment experiences with their peers, and you wouldn’t want to be one of the companies they ban.
Meet Pre-Screened Candidates with Sunvery
Sunvery is a tech recruitment and staffing company that helps businesses hire their perfect candidates. We can free you from the hassle of finding and selecting the right people for your team. Thanks to a large talent pool and established recruitment funnels, Sunvery will match you with the first suitable tech specialists in 2 days. All you need to do is meet the candidates with the required technical skills and make the final decision. Pre-screening, interviewing, and negotiations are on us. You see the result.
Contact Sunvery for a quote and learn more about our IT recruitment and staffing services.